在线英语听力室

VOA慢速英语2014 How Much of You Does Facebook Own?

时间:2014-12-18 23:00:43

搜索关注在线英语听力室公众号:tingroom,领取免费英语资料大礼包。

(单词翻译)

 

AS IT IS 2014-12-18 How Much of You Does Facebook Own?

If you use Facebook, your friends might have posted an update saying Facebook is not permitted to violate their privacy. 

The message says, “The content of my profile contains private information. The violation1 of my privacy is punishable by law (UCC 1-308 1-308 1-103 and the Rome Statute2.)” 

You may wonder, “What is the Rome Statute?”

Experts say it does not matter.

According to the website Snopes, “the law just doesn’t work that way.” The website investigates commonly accepted information and tries to learn if it is true.

Raegan MacDonald is the European policy manager for a digital privacy rights group called Access. She agrees with Snopes. She says users may be able to adjust how much control they have over their information and photos. But, she says, Facebook’s terms of service clearly state the company mostly owns your data.

Shaun Murphy is the CEO of PrivateGiant.com. He aims to limit the ways online companies can use people’s private information.

Mr. Murphy says the way companies use people’s information is “creepy.”

He says, “Just recently I was listening to a new streaming radio service. I had put in preliminary information just to log in, and one of the ads served up had my name. ‘Shaun is an IT guy…’ and that was super creepy. I deleted it and never wanted to use it again.”

Mr. Murphy says there are two kinds of online services. The first kind promises to guard your private data and never use it. But Mr. Murphy says that protection is going to cost you.

“That’s their business model – they’re marketing3 your privacy,” he said.

The second kind offers a huge number of services for free – like Facebook. But Mr. Murphy says users should ask themselves why the sites are giving so much away.

“They’re grabbing your information,” he says. “From that perspective, if the service is free, you’re the product and you should be expected to be used as a product.’”

License4 or copyright?

Facebook’s terms of service agreement claims the license to use any data you post, including images.

Matt Steinfeld is a spokesperson for Facebook. He pointed5 out that “license” is not the same as “copyright.”  He says, “When you post content on Facebook, or any information, you own that content. We have to have your legal permission to share that content.”

In other words, while you are a member of Facebook, you agree to let the company use your data. During that time, Facebook asserts the legal right to do almost anything it wants with your information: mine it for details about you, use your images for marketing, or provide your data to advertisers. In fact, selling data about you is a major source of revenue for the company.

But if you delete information, you take it with you. Facebook has no further right to it.

And, Facebook spokesman Matt Steinfeld says your specific identity is never shared. He told VOA, “We show ads on Facebook without telling an advertiser who you are.”

The legal line between license and ownership can create unusual results. For example, lawyers for Facebook argued that parts of your data -- the things you post -- are “trade secrets.”

Privacy expert Raegan MacDonald says that idea is interesting. “It means what is your personal data – what is supposed to be yours – Facebook is claiming intellectual property rights over,” she says.

Privacy protection

Of course, Facebook offers different layers of privacy. Users can select who can see and share their posts. Governments in some countries also offer additional protection about what Facebook can do with user information.

For example, users in the European Union have the right to request that Facebook provide everything they have ever posted, said or done on Facebook. That means people who want to leave Facebook permanently6 can keep all their data.

Some governments are also discussing whether users should have the so-called “right to be erased7.” In other words, users could ask for all their data and online activity to be permanently removed.

Shaun Murphy of Private Giant says users can also do something else to protect their privacy. But, he says, “It’s the thing nobody wants to do.” That is, users can take the time and effort to read each company’s terms of service agreements carefully before clicking on “Agree.”

Mr. Murphy asks, “Take a look at the data retention8 – if you delete something, how long do they keep it?  If they’re vague and use weasel words, that’s something you probably don’t want to use.”

In the end, if you do not want Facebook using any of your personal contacts, private messages or photographs, you have only one perfect choice: deleting your account.

But Raegan MacDonald from the privacy rights group Access says even that option is not good enough. She says people should not have to choose between participating in social networks and giving away all their privacy.

Instead, she says, users and lawmakers should support legislation to limit online companies’ practices and give users more control over personal data.


分享到:


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 violation lLBzJ     
n.违反(行为),违背(行为),侵犯
参考例句:
  • He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说,那是违反规则的。
  • He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。
2 statute TGUzb     
n.成文法,法令,法规;章程,规则,条例
参考例句:
  • Protection for the consumer is laid down by statute.保障消费者利益已在法令里作了规定。
  • The next section will consider this environmental statute in detail.下一部分将详细论述环境法令的问题。
3 marketing Boez7e     
n.行销,在市场的买卖,买东西
参考例句:
  • They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
  • He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。
4 license B9TzU     
n.执照,许可证,特许;v.许可,特许
参考例句:
  • The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
  • The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。
5 pointed Il8zB4     
adj.尖的,直截了当的
参考例句:
  • He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
  • She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
6 permanently KluzuU     
adv.永恒地,永久地,固定不变地
参考例句:
  • The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
  • The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。
7 erased f4adee3fff79c6ddad5b2e45f730006a     
v.擦掉( erase的过去式和过去分词 );抹去;清除
参考例句:
  • He erased the wrong answer and wrote in the right one. 他擦去了错误答案,写上了正确答案。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He removed the dogmatism from politics; he erased the party line. 他根除了政治中的教条主义,消除了政党界限。 来自《简明英汉词典》
8 retention HBazK     
n.保留,保持,保持力,记忆力
参考例句:
  • They advocate the retention of our nuclear power plants.他们主张保留我们的核电厂。
  • His retention of energy at this hour is really surprising.人们惊叹他在这个时候还能保持如此旺盛的精力。

本文本内容来源于互联网抓取和网友提交,仅供参考,部分栏目没有内容,如果您有更合适的内容,欢迎 点击提交 分享给大家。